Friendship and Love: Aristotle's View vs Plato's

Throughout the history of art, literature, and theater, the themes of friendship and love have been the most prevalent. In numerous compositions, including Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics and Plato's The Symposium, these themes are recurrent as the main topics of discussion. Aristotle believes friendship to be a high and noble aim for mankind. Analogously, Plato considers love a necessity of life that enables "human beings to acquire courage and happiness, in both life and death." Both …

…based on pleasure, utility, and goodness, and the objective of friendship and love is to benefit the other person, thereby increasing the greater good of all participants. Also, both situations are concerned with giving rather than in receiving affection. When this is the case it is proven that the friendship and love are indeed true. Because of their close correlation, the border between the two is blurred, and it is possible to interrelate the two.